SETTING THE PACE / Living life with an eternal perspective
My favorite verse in the entire Bible is 2 Corinthians 4:18 which says, “So we fix our eyes, not on what we can see, but on what we cannot see. For what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.” Living this way is extremely hard. It is difficult to focus on eternal things in a world fixated on the here and now. The only way to live for the eternal is to live each day by faith.
At the heart of biblical Christianity, is repentance of sin and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says repeatedly that we are to “repent and believe.” Faith, then, is an essential component to true Christianity.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Romans 14:23 says, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” It is obvious that God places a great deal of importance on faith. What is faith then? According to Hebrews 11:1, it is the “assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.” In short, it could be simply said that faith is “seeing the unseen,” or “seeing eternal things in a temporary world.”
As I said, this is a very difficult way to live. People, in general, live by the mindset, “I have to see it, in order to believe it.” Most people are “see first, and then believe,” when the Bible says, “Believe first, and then you shall see.” How can we live this way though? How can we be a people of faith in a world that lives largely by sight? There are many things that could be said about this, but let me give you three quick encouragements to keep living by faith.
First, we are to have faith, but we don’t have to have blind faith. The evidence for Christianity far outweighs the evidence against it. Even secular history confirms that Jesus Christ lived on the earth, died on the Cross, and rose from the dead. The last time I checked, His tomb was still empty! The Resurrection alone should be enough to confirm Christianity.
Every prophecy ever made about Jesus Christ has come true. God did just what He said He would do, and the evidence is there to support it. Yes, we are to have faith, but we can have an educated faith. A great resource on this subject is the book, “The Case for Faith” by Lee Strobel. I highly recommend it.
Second, God is still transforming lives today! As a pastor, I see this every week, but I also see it as I travel around the world. It never gets old watching someone hear the good news of Jesus Christ and turn their lives over to Him. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation.” The Gospel has survived every generation and will continue to survive, because in it is the life-changing message about Jesus Christ. Look around and be encouraged. People are being transformed every day.
Third, everything comes down to faith; believe right and believe well! At the end of the day, everyone believes in something. But when it comes to faith, you have to look at the object and source of your faith. For Christians, the object of our faith is the one true God of the universe who has made Himself known through creation and the person and work of Jesus Christ. The source of our faith is the Word of God, which points us to the truth, and holds up against even the most serious of all scrutiny. For more on this subject see a great book called, “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist,” by Norman Geisler. It is a very helpful resource.
Well, that’s all for this week. Keep walking and living by faith! Keep seeing the unseen. See you next week.
